Tuesday, April 21, 2009

When Nabu Met Anthony

Originally posted by Nabu San:

Last weekend, SARAH-JANE.tv founder Anthony and I met up in Liverpool to attend a very special concert! The Music from Outer Space event, held at the Liverpool Philharmonic, promised to be 'a mind-blowing journey through time, with a spectacular programme of 'space inspired' science fiction music.'

If Lis Sladen presenting the evening wasn't reason enough to go, we'd also learnt that five minutes of the concert was going to be devoted to Sam Watts' compositions from SJA! A 'world premiere', as Lis herself put it!

The SJA music kicked off right after the first Star Wars piece, when the SJA theme tune was played by the orchestra to welcome Lis Sladen to the stage! Listening to the theme on the telly is all well and good, but nothing compares to the experience of seeing the instruments played before your eyes and feeling each note reverberate around the hall. :) I have a feeling only those who've been fortunate enough to attend Doctor Who concerts in the past will know the thrill of hearing music from your favourite show performed live!

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The actual segment of SJA music didn't come till the second half of the show. Introduced by Lis with great pride and conducted by Ian McMillan, the five-minute 'Adventures of Sarah Jane' suite consisted of a medley of sombre compositions from the first two seasons. Lis, who was sporting a low-cut grey strapless gown that evening, sat on the sidelines swaying her head along to the music. Finishing off with an epic rendition of 'Until Next Time Miss Smith' [known to most as the SJA trailer music] the suite concluded to resounding applause from the audience! Sam Watts himself, who'd attended the concert as a ticket-holder, was asked to stand up and take a bow by co-presenter, Brian Miller [aka. the classic series voice of the Daleks and Lis' long-time spouse].

After the concert was over, Ant and I went off in search of some of the creatures floating around the Philharmonic! xP And lookie who else was there!:

Picture courtesy of concert attendee, Simon

Later, we headed to the stage door to see if we could meet Lis. But it seemed we weren't the only ones who'd had that idea. :P Unfortunately for all of us, in particular the eager young fans who'd waited patiently to meet her, we found out Lis had already left through another door. :( Maybe next time, guys!

Aside from that, it was a superb evening of music; and not just because of the SJA content! Hearing theme tunes from the likes of Doctor Who, Superman, Star Trek, Thunderbirds and Red Dwarf were definite highlights! Sci-fi baddies popping up during the concert to scare kids was another plus!

With regard to Sam Watts, SARAH-JANE.tv hope his segment that evening was a stepping stone on the way to a fully-fledged SJA concert someday! If that ever happens, we'll be the first in line to book tickets! Until then, we're sure he'll keep himself busy composing tracks for the third series; which is filming in Cardiff at the mo' and should be on our screens this Autumn!